Traffic marker devices such as safety cones are useful in alerting, directing, or diverting motorists as well as pedestrians to avoid or pass safely around hazards, obstacles, work zones, and so on. Several designs of safety cones exist today. The most common design is perhaps the bright orange colored, hollow conical shaped rigid cones that are made of a single piece of molded hard rubber or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,333,273, issued to Scanlon et al.). Especially in consumer applications, carrying these cumbersome rigid cones could be a challenge, not to mention that they would take up a significant amount of precious space in a trunk or cargo area of a vehicle.
Since these rigid safety cones are neither easy nor practical to carry or transport in a consumer vehicle, average consumers are discouraged to use them, despite the fact that they could be very useful in case of a roadside emergency/assistance, e.g., increase safety and visibility when an individual's vehicle is stalled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,792, issued to Kwok, discloses a mobile traffic warning sign that includes a heavy flat base, a conical spring fastened to the base at the top by holding-down plates and screws, and a collapsible conical covering, and a case for receiving the warning traffic warning sign when the conical covering and the conical spring are collapsed and received in a circular recess on the base.
Kwok's mobile traffic warning sign is simple in structure and easy to carry. However, it does not have a self-right mechanism. Thus, when confronted by an indirect or direct force, e.g., natural wind, passing traffic, or violence, it is likely to fall over or collapse and become a flying or lying object endangering following traffic and/or surrounding people.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,311, issued to Ho, discloses a telescopic roadblock comprising a base and a cone on the base. The cone has a telescopic structure defined by concentric hard conical sleeves that are connected together by a soft material. The hard conical sleeves have the same height and decreasing diameters with the smallest diameter set on the topmost end. The cone can be compressed down to the same height as a hard conical sleeve.
Ho's telescopic roadblock is small, convenient, and easy to carry. However, it does not have a self-right mechanism. Thus, similar to Kwok's mobile traffic warning sign, when confronted by an indirect or direct force, e.g., natural wind, passing traffic, or violence, Ho's telescopic roadblock is likely to fall over or collapse and become a flying or lying object endangering following traffic and/or surrounding people.
Clearly, there is still a need for a traffic safety cone that can self-right when in use and that can be reduced or otherwise minimized to a compact size when not in use, thereby allowing an average consumer to hold, carry, transport, and/or store the safety cone in a convenient and effortless manner.